Pneumatic bellows



Dec. 17, 1957 D, c, TURNER 2,816,703

PNEUMATIC BELLOWS Filed May 1'7, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

Fig.2

as 6 TF ll Fig. 3

INVENTOR, Donald C.Turner I] I It; I

ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1957 D. c. TURNER PNEUMATIC BELLOWS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17. 1954 INVENTOR, I Dona lcl C. Turner U K "I g o I V I ATTORNEY.

Dec. 17, 1957 D. c. TURNER PNEUMATIC BELLOWS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 17, 1954 INVENTOR, Donald C. Turn er ATTORNEY United States Patent Q PNEUMATIC BELLOWS Donald C. Turner, Penfield, N. Y.

Application May.17, 1954, Serial llo.43ll,1ll0 6Claims. (Cl. 230-165) This invention relates to a self-expanding hand bellows having an accordian'pleated bellows section and provided with internal air directing means.

An objectof the invention is to provide a more satisfactory and generally improved hand bellows. Another objectis to provide aiself-expanding hand'b'ellowshaving an accordian pleated bellows section.

Still another object is to .provide a bellows having internal air directing means which also serve. air intake means during alternate expansion and contractions of thebellows section.

A further object is the provision of flexible stop .means which limit the expansion of the, bellows and which function to lock'the bellows in contracted position when not in use. v

A still further object'is to provide a hand bellows which is of simple construction, can be easily and economically fabricated, and requires littleorno instruction in use.

These andothergdesirable objects may be attained in the manner disclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in the following description andin the accompanying-drawings forminga part hereof, "in which:

Fig. 6 isa-vertical section taken approximately on the line 66 of Fig. l.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

In the preferred embodiment of the inventio n, the hand bellows includesfront and. rear pivoted cover plates 1.7 and 19, respectively, and an accordian pleated.or-.camera type ,bellows section .21, disposed between and secured .to the. inside faces of the cover plates. Located above-the. lower edge of each:of. the cover plates 17 and 19 are-a pair oflaterallyspaced openings 23, with theopeningsZ-S in both plates being axially alined withreach-other and withthe openings 25 provided through the lower. folds of the.:bellows section 21.. A flexible hinge strip 27; preferably aleatherthong, extends along the outer faceof the rear cover plate 19'and is reeved through the alined openings 23 and 25 with its ends being knotted at 29 in a manner so as to maintain the lower portion ofthe bellows section 21 in compressed position.

Extending upwardly from each of the top edges of the cover-plates 17 and 19 is an integrally formedhandie 31 provided with a hook or nail receiving opening '33 to facilitate storage of the bellows. The cover plates 17 and 19 are provided with alined apertures 35 which are disposed, above, thetop. of, the ...b,ello ws, section, see 1 re maven-towards ach? 01.1 9.

Fig. 6, and through which is passed a flexible strip 37, preferably a leather thong, having on one of its ends a knot 39 which bears against the outer face of the front cover plate 17 while its other end is knotted at 41 to an intermediate portion of the strip to form a loop. As seen from Figs. 3 and 6, the distance between the flexible strip knots 39 and 41 is equal to the desired degree of expansion of the bellows section 21 and thus as the cover plates 17' and Bare moved away from each other, the knots 39 and 4-1 engage the outer faces of the plates thereby to limit their movement. The looped portion of; the flexible strip 37' is adapted to be 'disposedover the cover plate handles31, as shown in 'Fig. 2, to maintain the bellows in closed or compressed position. Alternatively, the iiex ible strip loop may also be employed for hanging the bellows from a nail or hook for storage.

While any material having suflicient rigidity maybe employed in fabricating the bellows cover plates 17 and '19, a thermosetting plastic material; such as polystyrene, appears to be most satisfactory from the standpoint of economy, appearance, and-ease of manufacture, although the inventionis not limited to a bellows formed of any particular material. As 'seenfrom Fig. l, the outer faces of the cover pla-tes 17 and 19 have a substantial free area upon which the manufacturer may place his name or'mark or a decorative design.

With referenceto F-igs. 46,' the bellows section-21 has. approximately the same peripheral outline orconfiguration as that of the cover plates 17 and 19 and is formed-of a fiexible sheet'material, such as paper, which ispleatedrby sharp fold lines in a manner similar to that employedzin the construction of a conventional camera bellows. To insure that the bellows section bends only at its-fold lines when it is collapsedor compressed, the bellows sectionwalls adjacentto the foldlines are stiffened or reinforced by means of a reticulated sheet, such as paper, which is adhesively secured to the inside wall of the bellows during :its :manufactureas shown, forexample, inthe patent1to-LT'. A. Noble, 1,908,531. Ateachend ofsthe bellows section 21 is a wall 43 0f sheet-mater ial such; as cardboardwhich has: its marginal edges engaged between or embracedby the last orendmost internal slot orgroove of: the pleats or'folds of the bellows, and if-desired-tmay be secured theretoas'by staples 45. The walls 43.and;the bellows section 21. form an air chamber into whichair'is drawnandfrom which air is expelled duringexpansionand contraction of the bellows section 2 1 by= themovcment of. thecover'plates 17 and 19;

To facilitate the drawing and expelling of air into and frornlhe. air chamber, the 'walls 43 are providedwith Openings47 nearwtheirlower ends and theinside faces of the cover plates-=17 and 19-each have a groove 49 which extends from their. loweredges to and adjacent the openings 47 in the'air chamber walls. Toinsure that the bellows.-seotion.2i1 will; be expanded as the cover plates 17 and'1 9.a;re moved away. from each other and to pro vent vany,leakagechain-from between the bellows section andthe 'coverplates,;-the;endsof'the 'bellows section are secured. tothe inside faces: of the cover platesby an adhesive. Thus, as ;the plates 1 17: and 19 are moved away from each other, air is drawn through the cover plate grooves. 49, and .wallnopenings 47 into theair. chamber, with. thewair taking the; reverse path as. it is. expelled. Since theaircan leave: the; air chamber only through thecover plate grooves;4g9, theair willgbe expelledarin two streams, one-from each groove 49, which meet-nor intersectv below-theylower edge of the hand bellows. (It willbe noted.that sincezthegrooves49 are-inclinedrelae. tive to each-othemthe-air; streams fromtthetgrooves .49 will meet or intersect at;.different points as, the cover plates .n ethe. angle. between the grooves 49 is reduced by such movement. In other words, the point at which the air streams from the grooves 49 intersect will shift in a direction away from the lower end of the bellows as the cover'plates are moved. to compress the bellows section 21.

To automatically expand the bellows section 21, a coiled compression spring 51 is fixed within the air chamber near the upper end thereof and urges the cover plates away from each other. As seen from Figs. 5 and 6, the inside face of each air chamber wall 43 is provided with a retainer strip 53 of semi-flexible sheet material such as cardboard, for example, fixed to the wall 43 as by staples 55. The spring 51 is positioned by merely sliding one spiral loop or coil of the spring upwardly between each of the retainer strips 53 and the walls 43, as seen in Fig. 6. The expansive force of the spring, working against the inclined or diverging faces 43, will tend constantly to wedge the end convolutions of the spring firmly into the retaining pockets or slots formed between the parts 43 and 53.

Thus, with the bellows section 21 adhesively secured to the inside faces of the cover plates 17 and 19, and with the lower ends of the cover plates 17 and 19 drawn together by the flexible hinge strip 27 so as to dispose the lower portion of the bellows section in compressed relation, removal of the loop of the flexible strip 37 causes the upper portions of the cover plates to automatically move away from each other due to the outward force of the compression spring 51. As this movement of the cover plates takes place, air is drawn into the air chamber and it is therefore necessary for the user to only apply a bellows compressing force in the operation of the bellows.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the above mentioned objects of the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation. and that without departing from the invention. the details may be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pneumatic hand bellows including an accordian pleated bellows section, end walls having approximately the same peripheral outline as said bellows section disposed within the endmost pleats of said bellows section with their marginal edges being embraced thereby, said bellows section and end walls forming an air chamber, a cover plate disposed at each end of said bellows section and secured thereto, a flexible hinge strip extending through and pivotally connecting edge portions of said cover plates and the bellows section pleats adjacent thereto with said pleats maintained in compressed relation, openings in said end walls, grooves on the inside faces of said cover plates extending from said end wall openings to an edge thereof, said grooves providing a plurality of air channels through which air is drawn into and expelled from said air chamber as said bellows section is expanded and compressed, a spring member positioned within said air chamber urging the portions of said cover plates opposite said pivotally connected edge portions away from each other to automatically expand said bellows section, and flexible stop means extending through said cover plates to limit the movement of said cover plates away from each other as the spring member automatically expands the bellows section.

2. A pneumatic hand bellows including an accordian pleated bellows section, end walls having approximately the same peripheral outline as said bellows section disposed within the endmost pleats of said bellows section with their marginal edges being embraced thereby, said bellows section and end walls forming an air chamber, a cover plate disposed at each end of said bellows section and secured thereto, a flexible hinge strip extending through and pivotally connecting edge portions of said eoverplates and the bellows section pleats adjacent there-- to with said pleats maintained in compressed relation, openings in said end walls, and grooves on the inside faces of said cover plates extending from said end wall openings to an edge thereof, said grooves providing a plurality of air channels through which air is drawn into and expelled from said air chamber as said bellows section is expanded and compressed.

3. A pneumatic bellows including a pair of cover plates having handle means extending from one end thereof, an accordian pleated bellows section disposed between and secured to said cover plates to form an air chamber, said cover plates being recessed to form a plurality of discharge openings extending from the ends of said bellows section to the edges of said cover plates, said discharge openings being separated from each other by an edge portion of said bellows section and serving to direct air streams from said air chamber to the exterior of said bellows so that said air streams intersect outwardly of the bellows at various angles as said bellows section is compressed.

4. A pneumatic hand bellows including a bellows section, end walls cooperating with said bellows section and with said bellows section forming an air chamber, a cover plate disposed at each end of said bellows section and secured thereto, hinge means connecting edge portions of said cover plates and bellows section pleats adjacent thereto with said pleats in compressed relation, and means extending from said air chamber to the exterior of said hand bellows for drawing air into and expelling air from said air chamber as said bellows section is expanded and compressed, said means for drawing air into and expelling air from said chamber including grooves formed in the respective inner faces of said cover plates, the groove in one plate lying approximately opposite the groove in the other plate.

5. Pneumatic hand bellows including an accordion pleated bellows section capable of endwise expansion and contraction, a pair of rigid end plates secured to and covering the ends of said bellows section, a coil compression spring within said bellows section exerting outward force on said end plates to tend to separate them from each other, a flexible thong passing through both end plates adjacent one side of said bellows section and maintaining said end plates relatively close to each other at said side of said bellows section with said side relatively tightly compressed between the end plates while the opposite side of said bellows section may be expanded and contracted in use, and an air discharge passageway formed as a groove on the inner face of one of said end plates, one part of said groove communicating with the space within said bellows section, said groove extending thence past said tightly compressed side of said bellows section to an open end at an edge of said one of said end plates.

6. Pneumatic hand bellows including an accordion pleated bellows section capable of endwise expansion and contraction, a pair of rigid end plates secured to and covering the ends of said bellows section, hinge means holding said end plates relatively close to each other at one side of said bellows section with the pleats of said section relatively tightly compressed between said plates at said side while the two plates may swing relative to each other on said hinge means, each plate having air discharge passage means in fixed relation to such plate for discharging a stream of air outwardly past the edge of the plate approximately at said hinge means and approximately in a continuation of the plane of the plate, the air discharge passage means of one plate being alined with the air discharge passage means of the other plate substantially in a common plane perpendicular to both plates so that the streams of air discharged from the two passage means upon compression of said bellows section will intersect each other at a variable distance forwardly from the hinge side of the bellows.

(Referencesonflfllowlngpage) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Park Oct. 16, 1883 Brand Apr. 5, 1892 Hill Nov. 13, 1906 Fecker et a1. Feb. 4, 1908 

